Everything happens through the feet.
Always pushing the envelope, Specialized has designed their lightest and stiffest road shoe to date. Weighing in at a mere 200g (1/2 pair 42) and with a stiffness index of 13 for the carbon sole, this S-Works Road Shoe screams performance. However, the true benefits of this shoe are realized with the body geometry fit, the best fitting and most efficient road shoe Specialized has made yet. In this newest model, Specialized has minimized bulk by thermowelding nearly all parts of this shoe together, eliminating the need for stitching. The tongue is more sleek and supple than other brands road shoe, or even previous models of S-Works road shoes. This saved material from the tongue has been allotted to the midsection as well as creating a more defined heel cup. This alone has significantly increased the efficiency of the shoe by nearly eliminating heel lift as well as significantly eliminating other unwanted lateral movements that decrease efficiencies of road shoes.
Specialized‘s investment in research and technology becomes more and more apparent every year. Stress testing is utilized to determine stress points. These stress testing results are then utilized to determine where material can be eliminated, and where it needs to be added to reinforce areas that are prone to stress. Such technology is how Specialized has developed the Smartweld technology, producing some of the best riding aluminum frames on the market. The S-Works Road shoe has been designed in the same manner, the result has been the asymmetric optimized Powerline carbon sole which is ultralight and realizes a stiffness Index of 13.0. The asymmetric design is a result of eliminated material where it is not needed and reinforcing areas where it is needed. Producing a super stiff yet light carbon sole, all power transfer to the pedal, nothing is lost.
As previously mentioned, the development of this shoe has not been about simply eliminating material, and resulting weight; the development has been about eliminating material where it is not needed but supplying material where it is needed. The result of which has been a more sleek fitting, supple, lightweight, yet very stiff shoe that performs better than any other. These are quite ambitious goals. The result has not come up short. I personally own the S-Works MTB shoe which has undergone the same research and been designed in the same manner, I have been riding mine for over a year now. My personal review of the shoe coincides with other expert’s product reviews. The toe box fits better than any other shoe I have ridden, the supple tongue is comfortable on the forefoot yet not bulky, and heel lift has been eliminated. The thermowelding has not only eliminated bulk, it has reduced the occurrence of hot spots or uncomfortable pains that occur over distance. Personally, I ride mine 100 miles and am still not bothered to leave them on for my post ride meal and coffee, comfortable yet snug with nearly no unwanted stretch and play. I would highly recommend them.
The two independent Boa® S2-Snap dials micro-adjust on-the-fly and this system is easily replaceable. The Body Geometry sole and footbed optimize hip, knee, and foot alignment, the result of such is increased performance as well as comfort. This shoe comes in four colors schemes as well. If you are not a fan of the super bright white/white design or of the flashy asymmetric cosmetics in both the white/red, and white/black designs, the the black/black design (personal favorite) is sure to please. You can’t go wrong with all black everything.
Fulton Bikes 